Pocono Raceway

Sunday, June 12, 2011

NASCAR on TNT

Adam Alexander (host), Kyle Petty (analyst) and Wally Dallenbach

TNT host Alexander to Kyle Petty on Petty pick to win the race: “The sleeper in this [the race today] may just be your pick this week – Jeff Gordon.”

TNT analyst Petty commenting on Alexander’s question about early leader Denny Hamlin after 20 laps in the race: “In these first few laps, I’m not so sure he just came to play as opposed to ruin everybody else’s day.”

TNT analyst Petty commenting on the NASCAR.com ULTIMATE TAILGATING VEHICLE (UTV) that is loaded with big screen TVs, full kitchen, sleeping quarters, bathroom, two taps and the ability to play video games: “That UTV is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen…if you’re a guy.”

TNT’s Lindsay Czarniak and Larry MacReynolds have special guest Carl Edwards – in a rare ‘in-race’ interview before jumping back into his car to rejoin the race after his car was repaired – in the booth while his car was being worked on in his garage. Edwards explained the valve problems he experienced during the race.

Edwards: “We’re off right now, we’re not out…I brought part of the valve. The head of the valve…it’s not a failure based on the way it was built there was some type of failure. I thought I would come up here right now and talk to you about what’s going on what’s happening on the race track. There’s a lot of shifting going on out there and the cars are getting looser. It’s really tough out there.”

MacReynolds: “I heard you and Bob Osborne talking before the race…to shift or not to shift…either way it’s a lot of rpm on these long straight-aways.”

Edwards: “It’s a lot of rpm. We’re looking at Kurt Busch, I don’t think when I was racing him [Kurt Busch], I don’t think he was shifting. I was watching the broadcast and we were watching Tony Stewart shifting six times each lap, down into third, back to fourth, down to third, back to fourth…and his transmission, I think, gave up. It’s tough because as a driver you’re trying to get every last bit of speed you can. But, when you’re sitting in that car and you put the car into third gear you take the chance that something could go wrong.”

MacReynolds comments on Edwards’ team trying to get him back out in the race to try to at least get some points from this race.

Edwards responds: “The guys are working hard. Watching the broadcast…with the sun coming out it’s going to be an interesting race.”

Czarniak: “How much pressure do you feel being the points leader halfway through the chase?”

Edwards: “It’s a lot of pressure and I think what we’re seeing here with Kurt leading that a lot of things can happen with 13 races left. We came in here with a 40-point lead and it looks like we’ll leave with about a five-point lead. That’s how quick things can change. This year is a lot like the race.”

Czarniak comments on the reemergence of the Penske teams in the last three weeks:

Edwards: “This race hasn’t played out with fuel mileage but it looks like Kurt and Denny are the guys to beat. You got guys out there racing for the wins and that’s what we were out there doing today but it wasn’t meant to be. It’s going to be an exciting race and I’m going to stick around to see the end of it.”

Gordon comments on his win at Pocono: “We were embarrassed by the way we were running…we went on a streak where we weren’t competitive. What it takes is a team that you believe in and they work with you to get there. Welcome TNT, it’s a great way to kick it off [TNT’s Summer Series].”

Runner-up Kurt Busch speaking about his day at Pocono: “It’s great to run this good with the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge. We gave it everything we had from the back.”

Third place finisher Kyle Busch speaking about his day at Pocono: “We ran a solid day. I can’t say enough about Joe Gibbs Racing…can’t thank them enough. We had a great ride. [It] seemed like we were a third or fourth place car today.”

Denny Hamlin, who led a great part of the race today, but ended up having car problems: “We were a little out of sequence [on pit road]. When we left pit road [near the end of the race] and had a flat tire, it was just a slew of problems.”

- Turner Sports, Press Release

SOUND-ACTIVATED AND DIGITAL MULTIPLATFORM MARKETING INITIATIVES

NASCAR on TNT

TNT’s brand activation will create awareness within the Charlotte EpiCentre and add to Turner Sports’ already growing resume of creative and original marketing campaigns. TNT will be the first to market with a sound-activated initiative that helps demonstrate the depth of TNT’s overall assets.

“This fully integrated campaign allows us to reach NASCAR fans on all touch points through unique, eye-catching, high-impact marketing,” said Christina Miller, senior vice president, Turner Sports Strategy/Marketing/Programming. “This is the first time NASCAR has ever done something like this with its partners and we are excited to be able to lead the way with our brand activation.”

The campaign involves branding elements, including the full takeover of a four-story elevator shaft in the main courtyard, staircases, and a 26-foot TNT logo on the ground at the base of the elevator shaft. Enhanced audio technology called “directional audio” will complement the EpiCentre campaign with a concentrated beam of audio (imagine a flashlight, but with audio instead of light) directed to a specific location. When an individual walks through the audio beam, they will hear custom tune-in audio messaging – AC/DC’s “T.N.T.”, engines revving, cars speeding around the racetrack – only heard within the beam. When individuals exit the beam, they won’t hear it anymore.

Working with Valvoline, NASCAR on TNT also will equip several service stations in Charlotte with Summer Series signage, banners, as well as outfit each service tech in “NASCAR on TNT” crew shirts. The centerpiece is an event on May 27th featuring Greg Biffle and a live radio remote by Charlotte’s #1 country music station – WSOC – to generate additional awareness and exposure for the Summer Series.

Turner’s digital out of home advertising portfolio also includes previous initiatives during the following:

Major League Baseball postseason in which the Times Square Shuttle was wrapped in promotional advertising made to look like a stadium with video screens running video updates of the 2010 League Championship Series and American League Championships Series.
During the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, Turner used digital boards to provide real-time updates and scores, match-ups and tune-in, as well as current coverage of the NBA Playoffs and Eastern Conference Finals.

The TNT NASCAR Summer Series kicks off on June 12 – as part of its six consecutive races of exclusive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – at the Pocono Raceway for the Pocono 500. Following Pocono, the Series will go to Michigan and the Helluva Good: Sour Cream Dips 400 (June 19), Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma, Calif. (June 26), Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway (July 2), Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway (July 9), and end in Loudon, N.H. at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 (July 17).

Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is an industry leader in televised and online sports programming, airing championship level sporting events on TBS, TNT and truTV, and managing some of the most popular sports sites on the Internet. Turner Sports’ television line-up includes the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, NASCAR and professional golf. The company’s digital portfolio includes SI.com, NASCAR.COM, NCAA.com, PGATOUR.COM, GOLF.com and PGA.com, as well as an accompanying collection of mobile websites and connected device apps. Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA Mobile, the NBA Game Time App, NBADLEAGUE.com and WNBA.com.

TNT, one of cable’s top-rated networks, is television’s destination for drama. Seen in 100.5 million households, the network is home to such original series as The Closer, starring Emmy® winner Kyra Sedgwick; Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; Hawthorne, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Memphis Beat, with Jason Lee; Men of a Certain Age, with Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula; and Southland, from Emmy®-winning producer John Wells (ER); as well as the upcoming Falling Skies, starring Noah Wyle, and Franklin & Bash, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer. TNT also presents such powerful dramas as Bones, Supernatural, Las Vegas, Law & Order, CSI: NY, Cold Case and Numb3rs; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards®; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR, the NBA and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Turner Sports, Press Release

NASCAR on TNT

Countdown to Green

Lindsay Czarniak (host), Kyle Petty (analyst) and Larry McReynolds (analyst)

McReynolds on the challenges of racing at Chicagoland Speedway: “The biggest reason that (the track) wants to play mind-games is that (NASCAR) only comes here once a year.  I don’t think you can look back and say, ‘this team ran well here’ because so much changes from one July to the next.  The set-up changes, the track changes, the cars change and of course, we’re racing for the first time here with the rear spoiler so that’s why we’ve had nine races with seven different winners (at Chicagoland Speedway).”

No. 29 Kevin Harvick joined the TNT pre-race show.

Harvick on his win at Daytona on July 3^rd: “It doesn’t hurt to be lucky sometimes.  Last week, we had a good car and we were able to run up front all day and stay ahead of the wrecks.  If you could turn back the clock to a year ago, we would’ve been in all of those wrecks.  Things go in cycles and right now, everything is going well.”

TNT’s Pride of NASCAR featured a tribute to legendary driver Alan Kulwicki.

Former business manager Don Hawk on Kulwick’s mentality: “The guy was absolutely driven.  He was focused and intense.  He knew what he wanted and he absolutely knew when you had your first communication with him, if you were talking nonsense, he wouldn’t talk to you.”

Petty on Alan Kulwicki: “(Kulwicki) didn’t have a big budget but he had a huge heart.  Until the day when I stopped driving race cars, I had an ‘AK 7’ patch on my sleeve in memory of Alan Kulwicki.  We were friends and he was an incredible person and an incredibly focused individual.  He drove (cars) hard and he drove them hard for a purpose…to win championships.  He was a really good driver, a great guy and would still have an impact on the sport today.”

No. 18 Kyle Busch joined the TNT pre-race show live on the set.

Busch on his intensity during races: “You’re here to win.  You’re here to win every single week and that’s the first and foremost thing you want to do.  The second thing after that is…nothing.  You go home and go on to next week.  I’ve been fortunate to be in the position I’m in and to have the people with Joe Gibbs Racing who have worked so hard and given me great race cars this year.”

Busch on if he’s matured over the years: “I feel like I’ve been trying but probably not getting too many high remarks or results.  For me, it’s just to go out there, do what my job is and win the race.”

Busch on his rivalry with his brother No. 2 Kurt Busch: “We had a sibling rivalry and it was tough growing up with him.  I was seven years younger so I was trying to be like him.  But he was always starting everything before I was so I was always trying to get into it and try to be better than he was.”

No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. on not believing in momentum going from race to race: “We just want to keep working hard and it builds our confidence a little bit.  I don’t know if I believe in momentum because there are just too many variables during the race but we feel pretty good and we worked on the car really hard yesterday.  We’ll see what we’ve got.”

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago

Announcers: Adam Alexander (play-by-play), Wally Dallenbach (analyst) and Kyle Petty (analyst); Larry McReynolds (analyst) contributes from the in-field with the TNT Offtrack Robotic Car (TORC) with Lindsay Czarniak (host)

Pit reporters: Marty Snider, Ralph Sheheen, Phil Parsons and Matt Yocum

Petty on drivers racing side-by-side: “The funny thing about racing 50 or so laps into the race is if you end up racing a guy side-by-side for three or four laps, you lose a lot of time.  These guys are smart enough to know that they don’t want to lose time to the leader or let those guys behind them catch up.”

Dallenbach on how every race is different: “One race makes a difference.  You think you’ve got the stuff figured out and then you show up like (No. 29 Kevin) Harvick does this weekend and I know that restricter plate (racing) is a different deal but still, those guys have been running good all year and all of a sudden, they’re out to lunch tonight.”

Dallenbach on how drivers are stepping up with No. 48 Jimmy Johnson falling out of contention: “All of a sudden these guys have a little more step in them.  With the No. 48 (Jimmy Johnson) out of the picture, all of these guys think they have a chance now.  When you see a guy like that have problems, everyone else seems to step up more.”

Dallenbach on No. 16 Greg Biffle: “(Biffle’s) car looks really, really good after they make a pit stop and about halfway through the run.  The last couple of times, they look like they’ve lost some ground towards the end of their run.  If they can make the car better, especially towards the end of the run, I really think they’ll have a good finish tonight.”

Petty on drivers knowing when to run down under another driver: “When you run down under somebody, you don’t want to run lap after lap because you use your stuff up.  (No. 24) Jeff (Gordon) isn’t using his stuff up, he’s just running his line but you use your stuff up trying to get around him.  You have to fall back in line, let your stuff cool off and then come back and try it again.”

Dallenbach on certain race teams focusing on winning races instead of winning the Sprint Cup:  “There are a lot of teams that are saying, ‘Even if we get into the Chase (for the Sprint Cup), we’re not good enough to win the championship’ so they are focusing in on winning races.  I think that’s what they should be doing.”

Petty on No. 99 Carl Edwards: “This might be the best run (No.99) Carl Edwards has had all year long.  They have struggled off and on but this might be their best run.”

Petty on No. 00 David Reutimann’s pit crew rising to the occasion: “I’m going to give Reutimann’s pit crew a huge shout-out because when you get in this position (as leader) for the first time, and this is one of the first times that Reutimann has had a shot at winning a race like this, you have to perform under pressure.  His pit crew hasn’t been in this position any more than Reutimann has.  The whole team is in this position and they have all risen to the occasion.”

No. 99 Carl Edwards on his second place finish: “The biggest positive is that we ran this well.  Our guys have been working hard.  The guys at the shop have kept with it and are working so hard.  We were coming on strong at the end (of the race).  I just needed a couple more laps.  I honestly needed a couple of more points so I could go up there and risk it really hard on the high side but I was really loose.  I ran that last lap hard and fast and I wish I could’ve run all the laps like that but it’s a good points night.”

Dallenbach on the importance of wins to drivers who aren’t in position to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup: “I think it’s really important for these guys because wins matter right now.  It’s not so much about being in the Chase because winning the championship is tough and a lot of these guys aren’t at that level.  The win column is really important and these guys did a really good job tonight.  They earned it.”

Unofficial NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago Results:

1. No. 00 David Reutimann

2.      No. 99 Carl Edwards

3.      No. 24 Jeff Gordon

4.      No. 33 Clint Bowyer

5.      No. 1 Jamie McMurray

6.      No. 9 Kasey Kahne

7.      No. 31 Jeff Burton

8.      No. 11 Denny Hamlin

9.      No. 14 Tony Stewart

10.  No. 98 Paul Menard

- Turner Sports, Press Release

NASCAR on TNT

The network’s pre-race coverage will get underway at 6:30 p.m. (ET) with Countdown to Green featuring Lindsay Czarniak (host), Petty and McReynolds, along with reports from pit reporters Ralph Sheheen, Marty Snider, Phil Parsons and Matt Yocum.  No. 18 Kyle Busch will join TNT’s infield rig for an interview prior to the race to discuss his current season on the track.  In addition, the pre-race show crew will talk to No. 29 Kevin Harvick who is the current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader.

TNT’s acclaimed Pride of NASCAR series will feature the late Alan Kulwicki who was the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year and, in 1998, was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.

Dallenbach will once again break down race strategy during Wally’s World, as he is superimposed into live race footage from last season’s race in Chicago.  He will virtually walk along the track to discuss its nuances, with the ability to stop the race footage.

Throughout this year’s NASCAR on TNT Summer Series, the network will join forces with NASCAR.COM, the official site of NASCAR, to provide TNT RaceBuddy a multiplatform experience for race fans which features live feeds from the racetrack including pit road and in-car cameras, as well as live chats and polls.

2010 NASCAR on TNT Summer Series:

ALL TIMES EASTERN (ET)

- Turner Sports, Press Release

NASCAR on TNT

The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona powered by Coca-Cola was the number one program of the night on television with households, total viewers, and key adult and male demos, as well as the number one program of the week across cable with households, total viewers and men 25-54.

TNT also saw significant increases for its key demos, including:

• A18-49 +29%  2,534,000 vs. 1,963,000
• A25-54 +28%  3,269,000 vs. 2,553,000

• M18-34 +5%    339,000 vs.   322,000
• M18-49 +38%  1,689,000 vs. 1,222,000
• M25-54 +34%  2,215,000 vs. 1,651,000

Along with strong television viewership, NASCAR.COM’s coverage of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona powered by Coca-Cola propelled the site to a new single-day video record. NASCAR.COM’s extensive coverage featured the first ever 3D presentation of a NASCAR race and TNT RaceBuddy which complemented TNT’s innovative Wide Open coverage.

• NASCAR.COM set a new single-day record for total video views (live and on demand) with 986,000 (up 544% vs. last year) for its coverage of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona on Saturday, July 3, which also included TNT’s Larry McReynolds hosting a live chat with fans prior to the race.
• NASCAR.COM also experienced more than a 20% growth in page views (+27% to 5.7 million) and daily uniques (+22% to 876K), with total streams on TNT RaceBuddy up 71%.
• The NASCAR webcast page delivered 365,000 page views (+168% vs. last year), 145K daily uniques (+131% vs. last year), and 186K visits (+130% vs. last year).

• On Friday, July 2, NASCAR.COM had a 22% increase in page views, a 13% increase in daily uniques, and a 53% increase in video streams year over year, due in part to Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s win in the Nationwide Series race.

Turner Sports will wave the checkered flag on its NASCAR on TNT Summer Series coverage this Saturday, July 10 with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago. Countdown to Green begins at 6:30 p.m. (ET) and the race begins at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., presents some of the best and most popular sporting events worldwide and is a leader in televised and online sports programming.  With events airing on TBS ,TNT and truTV, Turner Sports’ line-up includes NASCAR and NASCAR.COM, the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, professional golf, PGATOUR.COM and PGA.com.  Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA LEAGUE PASS Broadband, NBA Mobile, NBADLEAGUE.com and WNBA.com.

Television Source:  Nielsen Media Research, based on Live + Same Day data / Star Trak.  2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup races on TNT vs. 2009 (06/06/2010 - 07/03/2010 vs. 06/07/2009 - 07/04/2009).  Saturday prime ad-supported broadcast and cable prime telecast comparison (07/03/2010 8:00 – 11:00PM, FOX / CW 8:00 – 10:00PM).  Cable total-day comparison for the week of 06/28/2010 -07/04/2010.

- Turner Sports, Press Release

NASCAR on TNT

TNT’s coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series concludes on Saturday, July 10 from Chicagoland Speedway.  Countdown to Green begins at 6:30 p.m. (ET) and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago begins at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

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Countdown to Green

Lindsay Czarniak (host), Kyle Petty (analyst) and Larry McReynolds (analyst)

McReynolds on Daytona being one of the marquee racetracks at which to win a race: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a driver, an owner or a crew chief. If you run in Formula One, you want to say, ‘I won at Monaco.’ If you run Indy cars you want to say, ‘I won at Indy.’ If you run in NASCAR you want to say, ‘I was a winner at Daytona.’”

McReynolds on the Daytona racetrack getting repaved before the Daytona 500 in February: “If you talk to any of the drivers in this race tonight, they are not excited about this racetrack getting new asphalt, they love the character it has. You have to man out you’re way around this racetrack.  But because the asphalt is so old, there are so many cracks, we’ve had some flooding here the last couple of years and water is getting down in those cracks and that’s what caused the pothole problem that we had in February.”

Petty on the impact of new asphalt on the track at Daytona: “The new asphalt is going to totally change this place. It’s just now getting its character, it’s just now getting to where these guys have to race the racetrack too. When the racetrack is paved you race each other, you don’t worry about the racetrack.”

No. 14 Tony Stewart joined the TNT pre-race show live on the set.

Stewart on driving a back-up car at Daytona and the positive aspect of starting at the back of the pack: “There’s not a problem if (a first long pit stop) happens (early in the race). It’s better to do it at the beginning than it is at the end. It’s kind of a blessing in disguise when you don’t know what it’s going to do on the front end. It’s probably better to be back and out of the way, that way if something is not right we don’t get run over.”

Stewart on the significance of winning any race at Daytona: “Anytime you go in any series to their biggest race at the biggest racetrack of the year as far as popularity and how important this track is to this sport, it makes you want to win. It doesn’t matter if it’s an IROC race win, Nationwide win or Cup win, it’s pretty big. This a pretty cool place to be in Victory Lane no matter what kind of car it’s in.”

Stewart on the heat affecting the condition of the track: “In February you hear us talk about handling of the cars, but it’s a lot cooler temperature. With the track sitting with cooler temperatures during the rest of the year that asphalt isn’t retaining the heat that it does here in July. So even though we’ve got cool night tonight, that surface temperature and the ground underneath still has heat in it and it makes the handling even that much more critical. Especially the last couple of years, with the splitters and the bump stops on the front, this place is so sensitive to bumps. You’re not going to get around them, there’s no place you are going to drive to get around the bumps, you’re going to have to go through them so you’ve got to make your car go through the bumps good. It seems like every time we come back this asphalt sags and settles more and it just makes it rougher because of that.”

TNT’s Pride of NASCAR featured a tribute to legendary driver No. 3 Dale Earnhardt.

Dale Earnhardt, Sr.’s crew member Chocolate Myers on the reaction of all of the NASCAR competitors congratulating Earnhardt on pit road after his first win at Daytona in 1998: “To win that race and see the people come out there, all the people, all those other guys, whether they loved or hated him, they respected him. When he won that race and came down pit road, there’s never been a more special moment in the history of the sport.”

Petty on No. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who won the Nationwide race on Friday night driving his father’s No. 3 Wrangler car: “Last night (Friday) was an incredibly emotional win not just for Junior fans, but for all of Earnhardt fans. When I say Earnhardt fans, it’s all of Earnhardt nation. It’s Dale Earnhardt, Jr., it’s Dale Earnhardt, Sr., it’s NASCAR. Last night was an incredible win. It was an emotional day for those guys.”

McReynolds on the rain delay cooling down the track but disrupting the drivers’ race day routines: “(The drivers) know when they get this track dry it’s going to be cool, it’s going to have a ton of grip. Normally when you get more grip it means handling problems you had in practice are going to be better. But the biggest thing is that these guys have waited all day. They have their routine and it’s the anticipation that we should be ready to race now and now we’ve got to wait and the question becomes how long will we have to wait?”

McReynolds on NASCAR having a foundation built on drivers expressing their emotions: “These guys love what they do and they’re very passionate about what they do. I’ve said all along, our sport was built on race cars and racetracks, but it was also built on emotion and feelings and these guys show it. Even NASCAR today, they say, look, we still have to maintain law and order, you can’t have guys getting out of their race cars swing jack hammers at each other, but if we want to see these guys get out of their car, as we’ve seen nearly every single weekend in 2010, and put out their emotions and their feelings, that’s what our sport was built on starting in 1979 and let’s go at it in 2010.”

No. 9 Kasey Kahne on details that still need to be worked out in regards to his move to Hendrick Motorsports and his expectation that he would know by this Daytona race: “Yeah, I was wrong. I think sometimes you just have to let things play out and let the best situation happen. That’s what we’re doing and that’s what they’re working on. I know it’s going to be good no matter what it is. Mr. Hendrick told me it’s going to be good equipment and it’s going to be a great car. Whatever it ends up being, it’s going to be fast. But it will be probably be another month (before we know).”

No. 33 Clint Bowyer on his desire to be the last Daytona winner before the new surface is laid: “I love this place, it means a lot to me. Being a kid from Kansas, growing up in the Midwest and beating up bull rings in the Midwest, this is what you work your whole life to get to, Daytona. This is an old worn out track and I want to be the last winner on this surface. It would mean a lot to me.”

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Coke Zero 400 at Daytona presented by Coca-Cola

Announcers: Adam Alexander (play-by-play), Wally Dallenbach (analyst) and Kyle Petty (analyst); Larry McReynolds (analyst) contributes from the in-field with the TNT Offtrack Robotic Car (TORC) with Lindsay Czarniak (host)

Pit reporters: Marty Snider, Ralph Sheheen, Phil Parsons and Matt Yocum

Dallenbach on No. 2 Kurt Busch and No. 48 Jimmie Johnson, who battled the previous week, working together in the race: “You completely forget about last week. In a restrictor plate race you’re simply looking for the fastest guy you can hang onto to work with. You seem to forget about a lot of the things that happened in the past because you never know which car is going to work best with you.”

Petty on the pit strategy of cars taking two tires as opposed to four tires early in the race: “If I’m a driver and I’m watching some of those cars out there, I’m thinking give me four (tires). Let me get my adjustments, let’s get my car under me so I am comfortable with it, then I’ll gamble when I’m comfortable. I hate to gamble on something when I’m just not comfortable out there in it.”

Dallenbach on drivers avoiding No. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr.: “These guys don’t look like they want to run behind the No. 77. A few of these guys went right up behind him and looked like they were going to help him and saw him get loose and they backed way off. When a guy is that loose in front of you, you do not want to make it worse.”

Petty on No. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. driving in the same spot all night: “(Sam Horish, Jr.) is staying with the girl who brought him to the dance, the high line. He’s going to make these guys go under him at some point in time.”

Petty on a wreck involving No. 42 Juan Montoya turning No. 18 Kurt Busch on the back stretch: “It always amazes me at Daytona that we have so many crashes in the middle of the straight away, but we do. We have so many crashes in the middle of the super stretch. You hate to bring this up, but it’s kind of like the same situation between what the No. 18 did to the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) in practice. They just hooked bumpers while they were crossing each other.”

No. 18 Kurt Busch on his reaction to his wreck that involved No. 42 Juan Montoya and eliminated him from the race while he was leading: “I don’t even know what to say, too many thoughts running through my head. Yeah, I guess it was my fault. I’m going to down the straight away as straight as I can be and I went right across the nose of the No. 42 for nothing else to do. Yeah, I wanted to wreck myself. Nobody really understands the draft when you’re beside somebody like that, they can move you, they have control on your car. He was too close to my side and he started turning me sideways down the straight away without even touching me just like I did to Denny (Hamlin), he started turning before I even got over the No. 6 (David Ragan) in practice. When you have no grip on these tires, I was two laps away from pitting, the thing started rear steering me down the straight away and I had no control over it. I didn’t turn across the nose of the No. 42. Why would I do that? Why would I wreck myself?  I was leading the race, I had the fastest car, thought I was going to win the thing. (I) thought we had the best car out there, drove from the back to the front. Can’t believe the Interstate All Battery Center Camry is all torn up again, another week, but whatever.”

Petty on No. 18 Kyle Busch’s explanation of the wreck: “A really good explanation once (Kyle Busch) got past the attitude part of it, where he said, ‘hey, I didn’t wreck myself.’ He was being sarcastic and that’s ok.”

Dallenbach on No. 2 Kurt Busch needing to be more aggressive: “(Kurt Busch) said it tonight, he needs to stop being so nice, he feels like he’s being too nice especially at the end of these races. He’s going to have to be aggressive, he’s in a position where he could win this thing in the last couple of laps and it’s got to be a take no prisoners attitude.”

Petty on the first and last races raced on this asphalt at Daytona: “If you can bookend (the asphalt in Daytona) with the ‘79 Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400 tonight and the way this thing has played out, two pretty good races to bookend a racetrack and the pavement here. That’s pretty cool.”

McReynolds: “Hopefully we won’t have a fight down in turn three.”

No. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on being lucky in the race to finish fourth: “We were terrible all night. We didn’t go a good job this weekend as a team, putting our car on the racetrack and making it as god as we could. We thought we were going to be ok, but we just weren’t when the raced started. We have to do a little bit better job, we got real lucky to get what we got tonight, I’m proud of the work the guys did. You’d rather be good than lucky. But anybody wants to trade you some luck like they did tonight we’ll take it.”

Unofficial Coke Zero 400 at Daytona presented by Coca-Cola Results:

1. No. 29 Kevin Harvick

2.      No. 9 Kasey Kahne

3.      No. 24 Jeff Gordon

4.      No. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

5.      No. 31 Jeff Burton

6.      No. 99 Carl Edwards

7.      No. 2 Kurt Busch

8.      No. 83 Reed Sorenson

9.      No. 71 Mike Bliss

10.  No. 82 Scott Speed

- Turner Sports, Press Release

Special Pre-Race Elements Include Dale Earnhardt
Tribute and No. 14 Tony Stewart Joining the Studio Show

NASCAR on TNT

The eight national sponsors featured in this year’s innovative telecast include Coke Zero, Burger King, Coors Light, Goodyear, Dimension Films’ Piranha 3-D, Sprint, Subway and Toyota.

TNT, in partnership with NASCAR Media Group, will also present NASCAR’s first foray into 3D programming with a special presentation of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona powered by Coca-Cola being made available through TNT RaceBuddy on NASCAR.COM (NASCAR.COM/RaceBuddy3D).  In addition to the mosaic of HD-quality complementary unique camera angles available on TNT RaceBuddy on NASCAR.COM each week, two custom racing feeds, sponsored by Coca-Cola, will be produced specifically for 3D. The first will provide a unique look at the racing action from strategically placed cameras around the track designed to maximize the effect of 3D. The second stream will bring the mayhem of pit row into the third dimension creating a one-of-a-kind visual experience.  In addition to NASCAR.COM, DIRECTV, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks will also air the 3D production.

The network will rev up its pre-race coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET with Countdown to Green with Lindsay Czarniak (host), Petty and McReynolds.  TNT will air a special feature on legendary driver No. 3 Dale Earnhardt to honor the approaching anniversary of his fatal race at the 2001 Daytona 500. Offering their memories and thoughts on the Hall of Fame driver are former owner Richard Childress, crew chief Larry McReynolds and pit crew teammates Chocolate Myers and Danny Lawrence. Joining the studio show prior to the race will be No. 14 Tony Stewart, defending champion of the Coke Zero 400 and winner of the July race three times in the past five years.

TNT will air the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona powered by Coca-Cola beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET with play-by-play announcer Adam Alexander calling the race alongside analysts Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach in the booth.  In addition, analyst Larry McReynolds will make frequent contributions from the in-field as he breaks down crew strategy and analyzes car adjustments using the TNT Offtrack Robotic Car (TORC).   Pit reporters Phil Parsons, Ralph Sheheen, Marty Snider and Matt Yocum will provide reports throughout the race.

In addition to his TNT duties, Petty will appear on Showtime’s Inside NASCAR tonight (June 30) at 10 ET and PT to promote this weekend’s race.

REMAINING 2010 NASCAR ON TNT SCHEDULE:

(All times ET)

- Turner Sports, Press Release

NASCAR on TNT

TNT’s coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series continues on Saturday, July 3 with the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona powered by Coca-Cola, presented in the network’s Wide Open format. Countdown to Green begins at 6:30 (ET) and the green flag will drop on the race at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

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Countdown to Green

Lindsay Czarniak (host), Kyle Petty (analyst) and Larry McReynolds (analyst)

McReynolds on whether No. 56 Martin Truex, Jr. will retaliate against No. 24 Jeff Gordon after Gordon wrecked Truex and eliminated him from the race: “Here’s the question, did Martin Truex, Jr. mean Loudon in June or did he mean Loudon in September when the Chase actually starts? I honestly believe that we will not see retaliation from Infineon this week, there’s too much on the line. You think about Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, those guys need to be focused on winning a race. You think about Martin Truex, Jr. he’s trying to get to the top 12. I saw David Ragen and Elliott Sadler, those guys are fighting for their ride. They need to focus on performance, not retaliation.”

Petty on the race dictating whether No. 56 Martin Truex, Jr. will retaliate against No. 24 Jeff Gordon: “A driver never forgets, you’ll ride a guy a little high, you won’t give him any room. You won’t see retaliation here today. If (Martin) Truex (Jr.) is running good, Jeff Gordon is the farthest thing from his mind. If Truex gets into an accident, Jeff Gordon had better be leery every time he laps his butt on the racetrack because he’s going to be laying for him.”

Dallenbach on how No. 24 Jeff Gordon’s on track demeanor against No. 56 Martin Truex, Jr. will determine how Truex responds: “That’s why Larry (McReynolds) is not a driver and I’m not a crew chief. Larry said you’ve got to focus on driving, but when you’re a race car driver you focus on getting the guy back. I think a lot of it has to do with how (Jeff) Gordon is going to race Martin (Truex, Jr.) today. If Martin gets in the back of the No. 24, I’m sure the No. 24 is going to get out of his way to give him a lot of room. If that happens you pretty much just wipe it out, you don’t think about it anymore. But if you have a problem with a guy and you come back to the racetrack and he’s jacking with you, you’re not going to wait, you’re going get it done.”

Petty on No. 47 Marcos Ambrose’s recovery from losing the Toyota/Save Mart 350 last week: “I’m going to tell you something, I was impressed with Marcos (Ambrose) this week. The interviews he gave, his line, the way he talked, the way he held himself, the way the team carried itself, they come right back here and go back out on the racetrack. Once you’re back out on the racetrack, that’s your comfortable place. So being in New Hampshire back in the car, it’s behind him now.”

No. 11 Denny Hamlin joined the TNT rig during Countdown to Green.

Hamlin on using negative press as motivation to succeed: “It’s amazing, whenever anything negative in the media is put out about us, we’ll poster it, we’ll put it up in the hauler and use it as motivation. We usually use the beginning of the year predictions when it says, ‘who will miss it,’ and our names is mentioned as going to miss it. We post it right up and use it as motivation. The knee stuff is no different. I’ve really relied on my team to pick me up over those few weeks right after that and since then our team has been on fire.”

Hamlin on having a great competitor in teammate No. 18 Kyle Busch to push him to be better: “It’s no different than the No. 24 (Jeff Gordon) and the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson). When you have a competitor like myself and Kyle (Busch) on the same team, it’s motivation. We knew right from the very first test, when he was still with Hendrick Motorsports and they let him come over and test Atlanta with the Gibbs cars, he got in his race car, (and ran) top of the chart. I was top of the chart until he got there. He showed up fastest. I went back out and topped that, and we kept going back and forth, and that’s what it takes to keep the fire in your stomach.”

McReynolds on legendary crew chief Dale Inman who was the focus of this week’s Pride of NASCAR feature: “We can talk about Richard Petty’s seven championships, we can talk about Dale Earnhardt, not to dilute their championships, but that man (Dale Inman) has eight championships. I know this year we put Bill France, Sr., Bill France, Jr., and three very notable drivers in the Hall of Fame, and rightfully so, but when we start putting crew chiefs and great mechanics into the Hall of Fame, that’s the man that needs to go into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, no question.”

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing: LENOX Industrial Tools 301

Announcers: Adam Alexander (play-by-play), Wally Dallenbach (analyst) and Kyle Petty (analyst); Larry McReynolds (analyst) contributes from the in-field with the TNT Offtrack Robotic Car (TORC) with Lindsay Czarniak (host)

Pit reporters: Marty Snider, Ralph Sheheen, Phil Parsons and Matt Yocum

Alexander on No. 31 Jeff Burton clearing the way for No. 24 Jeff Gordon: “It almost looked like a running back with an offensive lineman in front of him. (Jeff) Burton cleared the way and (Jeff) Gordon said I’m following you through.”

Dallenbach: “It’s good if you can follow someone who will do that. It will definitely open the door up for you if you can follow a guy like that, and Jeff Burton knows how to get through traffic, especially at this racetrack.”

Snider on his conversation with No. 47 Marcos Ambrose regarding his penalty at the end of the race in Sonoma which caused him to lose the race: “I talked to Marcos Ambrose this morning and he said, ‘listen, we had to come here with a different attitude. We had a team meeting on Tuesday and told everyone to put it behind them.’ He said, ‘it was absolutely the most devastating moment of my career, but we had to come here, relax and believe in ourselves, knowing we could run. That meant more than anything, it could have devastated us, but we weren’t going to let it.’ They came here with the right attitude and are running well here so far.”

Dallenbach on No. 47 Marcos Ambrose’s positive attitude: “(Marcos Ambrose) is one of the guys who has the best attitude in the sport right now, I don’t know if I could put it away like he put it away after what happened last week. I’d still be thinking about it.”

Petty: “After last week, I’d be staying in a hotel here (in Loudon) because I would have ripped the door off my bus when I got back to my motor coach. I could not have put it behind me.”

Petty on No. 29 Kevin Harvick: “That’s a team (No. 29) that has the big picture in mind. When you can take nothing and make something out of it, they do it week in and week out. They’ve done it this year better than any other team. There have been times I thought they were going to get lapped in the first 50 laps of the race, but you see (him at Pocono) and they finished fourth.”

Dallenbach on No. 31 Jeff Burton returning to his past form of racing well in New Hampshire: “(Jeff Burton) gets a hold of this racetrack and he is a tough guy to beat at this place. He hasn’t been a threat like he used to be, you used to come here and you had to beat Jeff Burton on this racetrack. But he looks it used to be here when he was winning all these races up here.”

Petty on bubble drivers No. 39 Ryan Newman, No. 99 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and No. 33 Clint Boyer trying to gain points: “If you’re racing against each other, trying to gain ground on each other, you don’t gain anything. Here you are 13^th, 14^th and 15^th and here you are racing at the racetrack eighth, ninth and tenth, so you don’t really gain anything. That’s the tough part about Cup racing, it’s hard to make up those points because they are so competitive week in and week out they run the same. ”

Alexander on No. 48 Jimmie Johnson winning the race: “For all those naysayers who wondered what was wrong with Johnson, I think driver No. 48 is back.”

Dallenbach: “I never listened to what those people said anyway.”

Petty: “Back from what, seventh place in points?”

Dallenbach: “Back from the big slump.”

Petty on the Chase starting in Loudon: “This is where the Chase starts. If these guys come here now and run like they ran (today), you’ve got to take that into account and say, ‘hey, they won here in the first race, they can win here when we start the Chase.”

No. 29 Kevin Harvick, the Chase leader, on how he will approach the final few weeks before the Chase starts: “You definitely want to be solid for the next few weeks, then you can start doing some things that you normally wouldn’t do, trying some things that you normally wouldn’t try. Even now, we can be a little bit more aggressive because you do have a little bit of a cushion. But we do want to win a race or two before the Chase starts and hopefully get our winnings streak in the last 10 weeks, that’s when it all counts.”

LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Unofficial Results:

1. No. 48 Jimmie Johnson
2. No. 14 Tony Stewart
3. No. 2 Kurt Busch
4. No. 24 Jeff Gordon
5. No. 29 Kevin Harvick
6. No. 39 Ryan Newman
7. No. 33 Clint Bowyer
8. No. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
9. No. 20 Joey Logano
10. No. 43 A.J. Allmendinger

- Turner Sports, Press Release

NASCAR on TNT

The network’s pre-race coverage will get underway at Noon (ET) with Countdown to Green featuring Lindsay Czarniak (host), Petty and McReynolds with reports from pit reporters Ralph Sheheen, Marty Snider, Phil Parsons and Matt Yocum.  No. 11 Denny Hamlin will join TNT’s infield rig for an interview prior to the race to discuss his current season on the track.  In addition, Czarniak will take a ride around the track with No. 31 Jeff Burton who has the most career wins of any driver at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

TNT’s acclaimed Pride of NASCAR series will feature the legendary Dale Inman who was the crew chief for Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises for three decades.  Together, they won 198 races and seven championships.

Throughout this year’s NASCAR on TNT Summer Series, the network will join forces with NASCAR.COM, the official site of NASCAR, to provide TNT RaceBuddy a multiplatform experience for race fans which features live feeds from the racetrack including pit road and in-car cameras, as well as live chats and polls.

2010 NASCAR on TNT Summer Series:

ALL TIMES EASTERN (ET)

- Turner Sports, Press Release

NASCAR on TNT

Lindsay Czarniak (host), Kyle Petty (analyst) and Larry McReynolds (analyst)

Lindsay Czarniak sat down with NASCAR President Mike Helton to talk about the importance of rivalries in NASCAR

Helton on the history of rivalries in NASCAR: “I think rivalry is part and parcel to any professional sport and certainly to NASCAR. I think one of the things we’re experiencing, and some of us have seen this in the past, where you’ve got a changing of the guard, sort of speak…you know, when Darrell Waltrip came in and chased Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty, (Waltrip) wasn’t very popular early on. Then you’ve got Jeff Gordon who challenged Dale (Earnhardt) Sr. when he first showed up and there was a great rivalry between the up-and-comer and the “Intimidator” (who was) a seven-time champion. We’re back in the cycle right now.  We’ve got new faces like Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano who are challenging Jimmie Johnson who is challenging Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.  We’re in that timeline change again, and that’s exciting, it can be.”

Helton on how he handles confrontations between drivers: “It’s probably evolved into I want to be fair but clear.  If there’s an issue we don’t need to dance around it, let’s just get straight to it, but I want to be fair about it.  And understand hopefully based on the experience I’ve had in conversations privately and professionally with drivers as to the challenges they go through and recognize that and be reasonable about that.

Czarniak: “So you’re not necessarily putting an arm around their shoulder but not hitting them upside the head either?

Helton: “Not in that order (laughs).”

McReynolds on the biggest difference between “old school” drivers and “new school” drivers: “The biggest complaint that I’ve had over the last couple of years and it’s getting a little better, is some of the veteran drivers complaining about other young drivers racing them hard.  (Racing hard is) what we do.  I don’t care if its lap two or lap 200, you’re here to do a job and race hard.  The thing that’s the difference between “old school” (driver) and “new school” (drivers) is the “old school” driver lets things settle down out there after a re-start.  With a “new school” driver like Kyle Busch, its full steam ahead the minute you see a green flag.”

No. 16 Greg Biffle on the struggles of Fords this season: “We’ve got to do a better job at executing and I predicted a few weeks ago that within the next four to six weeks, you’re going to see a win out of the Ford camp.  I still believe that.”

No. 29 Kevin Harvick joined the crew on the set during Countdown to Green to discuss his confrontation with No. 20 Joey Logano following the June 6 race in Pocono

Harvick on if he could relate to what Joey Logano was going through mentally following the race at Pocono: “You can definitely relate (to Logano).  You’ve been in those situations before and you have to handle things a certain way.  I just kind of laughed afterwards because it’s just one of those things and you just have to go through it.”

Harvick on if his dispute with Logano will carry over onto the track in future races: “I think it’s on the track.  You go out there and race the car and you don’t really worry about it.  He doesn’t want to make it too personal because it won’t be in favor of him.”

Harvick on the “I Wear the Firesuit in This Family” t-shirts his website is selling for charity that came from last week’s comments from Logano: “We didn’t make them in men’s sizes because anyone who’s married knows how this whole deal works.  One thing about being 20 (years-old like Logano) is you don’t understand anything about marriage.”

Ralph Sheheen sat down with No. 48 Jimmie Johnson, No. 24 Jeff Gordon and No. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (more of the interview will air during TNT’s NASCAR coverage on Sunday, June 20)

Gordon on if Earnhardt. Jr. is able to be himself on and off the track: “I think he is able to be himself more than anybody (else) out there.  But I don’t know him that well.  I’ve been to his house and hung out with him and he’s cool but I have no idea what he does the other 20 hours when I wasn’t there.”

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Michigan International Speedway

Announcers: Adam Alexander (play-by-play), Wally Dallenbach (analyst) and Kyle Petty (analyst); Larry McReynolds (analyst) contributes from the in-field with the TNT Offtrack Robotic Car (TORC) with Lindsay Czarniak (host)

Pit reporters: Marty Snider, Ralph Sheheen, Phil Parsons and Matt Yocum

Petty on racing at Michigan International Speedway: “The first two laps of the race at Michigan are trying to get in the place that you want to run.  You just want to get clear of these cars.  The cars are running two-wide and you see them get three-wide.  The first, second and third place cars will check out from (the rest of the field) a little bit.  So what you really want to do is find the place that you are most comfortable and work (the car) in.”

Dallenbach on how some cars improve over the course of a race: “It’s funny how all of these cars are supposed to be built the same but they have their own character.  You’ll have times when you get a race car and it doesn’t do anything for you for the first four or five laps but the longer you run, the better the car gets.  I don’t know why that is but there are a lot of times when your car is good for the short runs.”

Dallenbach on the importance of a spotter is to the pit crews and the driver: “When you’re a driver, sometimes you get stuck looking for something that you think is working.  But the spotter will look to see who is beating you and he’ll come up with something that you haven’t tried.  It’s very helpful.”

Dallenbach on teammates taking each other out of races: “The number one rule when you’re teammates, do not take your teammate out for any reason.”

Alexander: “I think we’re all going to get into a fight because it seems to be a theme among teammates this year.”

Petty on the safety innovations of NASCAR that don’t always garner attention: “That’s an interesting thing for fans that watch NASCAR and might not know that NASCAR makes safety innovations and doesn’t make a big deal about it.  We know about the harness collar, we know about the safety walls and we know about the C.O.T. (Car of Tomorrow).  But there are those little things that change internally in that garage area that doesn’t get a lot of press that will make these cars safer in the long run for the crews, the drivers and the safety teams.”

Dallenbach on No. 18 Kyle Busch driving well in traffic: “(Busch’s) car has been awfully strong especially in traffic.  If this guy ever gets out front, it could be trouble for everybody else if he gets into that clean air.  But his car is working really well in traffic, he’s been patient and he’s been picking (other drivers) off one by one.”

Dallenbach on No. 16 Greg Biffle not being able to keep up with the leaders: “Biffle has been ripping off some pretty good lap times.  I’m just not sure his car comes in fast enough to be able to stay up in front and actually race with these guys.  I think the long runs are working in his favor but it seems like he’s losing ground to the leaders.  That’s tough to make up when you’re running the same exact times as the leaders.”

Petty on No. 9 Kasey Kahne not being able to get around No. 2 Kurt Busch: “We’ve had a couple of restarts today and a couple of opportunities for (Kasey) Kahne to close the gap and run up on the No. 2 (Kurt Busch) car.  As he closed that gap, he’d get right to him and he couldn’t get around him.”

No. 11 Denny Hamlin on his win at Michigan: “Anything can happen and I knew a caution (flag) was coming so I might as well back off and save my tires.  But we’ve got to do what’s right for the fans and they need to see a great race in the end and the best car won.  That’s all you can ask for.”

No. 9 Kasey Kahne on the improved performance of his pit crew: “I was happy with (the pit crew).  (After) all of the pit stops, we only lost a little bit, three or four spots.  That’s much better than the past two months.  I was really happy with them and they did a nice job.  We still have a lot to work on.  I do and the team does if we want to win a race.”

No. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on finishing in the top ten at Michigan: “I enjoyed the car all day and it was fun to drive.  (No. 17) Matt Kenseth was better and all the cars in front of us were better but we felt like we had a top ten car and we were able to show it today.  That caution (flag) came out and it got me worried, (I thought,) ‘what the (heck) is going to happen here?’  But we were on the good end of it for a change.”

No. 14 Tony Stewart on making the cut for the Chase for the Sprint Cup: “We have to keep plugging away and keep doing what we do.  I’m not as panicked about the top 12 (for the Chase) as some of the other guys who are close to that bubble.  We just have to keep going out and if we keep rifling off top five (finishes), we’ll be there.”

Unofficial Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 Results:

1. #11 Denny Hamlin
2. #9 Kasey Kahne
3. #2 Kurt Busch
4. #24 Jeff Gordon
5. #14 Tony Stewart
6. #48 Jimmie Johnson
7. #88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
8. #31 Jeff Burton
9. #16 Greg Biffle
10. #20 Joey Logano

- Turner Sports, Press Release

NASCAR on TNT

• According to Nielsen Fast Nationals, TNT’s race coverage delivered a 3.3 US rating and 5,344,000 Total Viewers, becoming the #1 program of the day on ad-supported cable in Households, Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, Men 18-49 and Men 25-54.
• TNT’s Sprint Cup Series racing from Pocono delivered more households than the Stanley Cup Finals on NBC (3,750,000) and MTV Movie Awards (3,274,000)
• NASCAR.COM had over one million unique visitors, an increase of +13% vs. the Pocono race in 2009.
• The site received about 7.4 million page views, an increase of +25% vs. the 2009 race at Pocono.
• There were 1.5 million visits to the site which is an increase of 16% vs. the 2009 Pocono race.
• Total video streams on Sunday (on demand + live) were up 227% YOY to 724,000 streams including the 2010 debut of RaceBuddy, a multiplatform experience which features four camera angles and a mosaic view.  NASCAR.COM also featured an exclusive live video chat with TNT NASCAR analyst Kyle Petty.

NASCAR on TNT and NASCAR.COM returns this weekend on Sunday, June 13 from Michigan International Speedway. Countdown to Green begins at Noon (ET). NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing from Michigan begins at 1 p.m. (ET).

Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., presents some of the best and most popular sporting events worldwide and is a leader in televised and online sports programming.  With events airing on TBS ,TNT and truTV, Turner Sports’ line-up includes NASCAR and NASCAR.COM, the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, professional golf, PGATOUR.COM and PGA.com.  Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA LEAGUE PASS Broadband, NBA Mobile, NBADLEAGUE.com and WNBA.com.

Television Source:  Nielsen Media Research based on Live + Same Day ad-supported cable data from 06/06/10.  NASCAR on TNT:  6/7/09 vs. 6/6/10 (NASCAR).

Source: Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Research based on data from Omniture SiteCatalyst. Periods: 6/7/09 vs. 6/6/10 (NASCAR).

- Turner Sports, Press Release

NASCAR on TNT

TNT’s coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series continues on Sunday, June 13 from Michigan International Speedway. Countdown to Green begins at Noon ET. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing from Michigan begins at 1 p.m. ET.

Countdown to Green

Lindsay Czarniak (host), Kyle Petty (analyst) and Larry McReynolds (analyst)

Petty on the recent success of Kyle and Kurt Busch: “We started the year and it was Jimmie Johnson, Jimmie Johnson, Jimmie Johnson was all we heard. Then we heard all about Denny Hamlin. Now all we hear is the Busch brothers. What I like about it is it adds the Penske organization to the mix. First Hendrick and Gibbs, now we’re talking Penske. If they (Kyle and Kurt Busch) can grind it out then they do have a shot at the championship.”

McReynolds on the increased focus of Kyle Busch: “Obviously he and his new crew chief have messed well but I think the biggest difference is a lot of the distractions are behind him. He finally got the Nationwide Championship and got engaged to Samantha and the biggest thing is he decided to stop racing all over the country (in Nationwide) and said my focus is on this Cup car and trying to win the 2010 championship.”

Ralph Sheheen sat down with auto racing legend Mario Andretti in nearby Nazareth, PA as part of TNT’s ‘Pride of NASCAR’ series. Andretti was chosen by AP as the Driver of the Century and was voted into 5 different motorsports Hall of Fames.

Andretti on the importance of winning the 1967 Daytona 500: “I’m just looking at my career. Is it more complete with the Daytona win? You’re darn right it is. It’s all about the classics. You look at Daytona, Indianapolis, these are the ones that if you have an opportunity to race in it and you are lucky enough to win, these are the ones that will be on top of your mantle.”

Carl Edwards joined the crew on the set during Countdown to Green

Edwards on the struggles of Roush Racing: “It’s a number of things. When we come to the racetrack we try and make this car go around the corner and do what we want to do it to do. It’s just been a little bit of a struggle and Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle and myself, we’re all really good drivers and we’ve just got to keep believing in ourselves and the tide will turn and we’ll get back to 2008 when we were winning every week or at least it felt that way.”

‘The Ponytail Express’ returned with Kyle Petty planning to run 6,000 miles on his motorcycle between TNT’s six Summer Series races. Petty’s first stop was the wax museum in Washington.

Petty on his favorite wax museum exhibit: “I did stop by Tiger Woods, I also stopped by JLo (Jennifer Lopez) and she has a wax derriere that is incredible.”

Car owner Joe Gibbs sat down with Lindsey Czarniak to discuss his team and the recent on track issues between his drivers Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin

Gibbs on whether his guys can win a championship this season: “The good thing about professional sports is that you can’t talk your way up there, you r not going to con your way up there, you have to race your way up there.”

Kyle Busch on his ability to conserve fuel: “On a scale of 1-10, a zero, I’m horrible at saving fuel.”

*****   *****   *****   *****   *****   ******

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Pocono at Pocono Raceway

Announcers: Adam Alexander (play-by-play), Wally Dallenbach (analyst) and Kyle Petty (analyst); Larry McReynolds (analyst) contributes from the in-field with the TNT Offtrack Robotic Car (TORC) with Lindsay Czarniak (host)

Pit reporters: Marty Snider, Ralph Sheheen, Phil Parsons and Matt Yocum

Kurt Busch on his ability to conserve fuel: “I wouldn’t give it an ‘A’, but I haven’t flunked out on it…you always hope the guy running the guy running the calculator helps you.”

Carl Edwards on the rain: “I’m noticing the rain isn’t so much coming down, it’s coming sideways.”

Joey Logano on whether he likes racing at Pocono: “No. I wish I did, it’s a tough race track, its a tricky triangle.”

Matt Kenseth on how his plans to ride his motorcycle from Washington to Pocono with TNT analyst Kyle Petty got derailed: “The main thing I can tell you is I had a real good friend of mine this week, and I was getting ready to ride my motorcycle up here on Thursday, ended up blowing me off and I ended up sitting at home by myself. He’s not answering my texts or anything. Somebody in the booth may know something about that.”

Petty: “I had to be in DC to tape something for NASCAR.COM for ‘The Ponytail Express.’ Matt can not pass a Starbucks, so I had to leave his sorry butt at home.”

Dallenbach on the long pit road at Pocono: “Fifty-five miles an hour (on pit road) is torture. Its 1800 feet long and it takes forever to get from one end to the other end.”

Kyle Busch on his in-car radio to his crew early in the race: “Tight, tight, tight, loose all of a sudden. One lap I can go through a groove, the next lap I’m following all the time. No consistency.”

Alexander on Denny Hamlin’s strong finishes at Pocono and strong recent performances: “And these days you’d better stay in front of him because if you have one opportunity where you miss an adjustment on the race car, it may take you out of contention.

Petty: “And especially at a place like this where you have a tendency to make longer runs and you get so spread out. If you are in a place where you are only one or two seconds behind, you can get seven or eight seconds behind fairly fast.”

Dallenbach on Jimmie Johnson’s poor pit stop costing him more at Pocono: “Two seconds on pit road is seven seconds at Pocono on the racetrack because they are running 200 miles per hour down on the straightaway.”

Alexander on Denny Hamlin’s dominance at Pocono: “You can’t make a mistake at this racetrack with Hamlin behind you or he will pounce.”

McReynolds on Clint Bowyer and the Richard Childress Racing team: “I think the biggest thing is when they went from four teams to three teams it actually freed up what I think is one of the smartest crew chiefs over there, Scott Miller, who had actually been over there with Jeff Burton. Scott is like the competition director, he has been tying those three teams together and I think that is something that has been missing at RCR. They’ve (Bowyer’s team) have had some good runs, they’ve had some freak things happen to them…He (Bowyer) knows performance-wise they are Chase material.”

McReynolds on his Cutaway Engine: “How do you like my Toyota Cutaway engine made by Cutaway Creations?”

Petty: “That’s really cool, when you showed it the other day I thought ’that’s the kind of piece you’d like to have in your living room.’”

McReynolds on the back to back cautions with approximately 40 laps to go: “I know what Kyle said, those guys who came down to pit road and topped off took themselves out of the race, but now when you look at all of our leaders we are within the window of pitting and making it to the end, so honestly if these guys come (to get fuel), those guys (who already topped off) at the last caution, they may actually gain some spots.”

Petty: “Excellent point Larry, that’s why I was a driver and you were a crew chief; I’m an idiot and you’re not.”

Petty on Hamlin coming back from major knee surgery this year: “What better physical therapy can you have than standing in Victory Lane holding that trophy?”

Petty on the collision between Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick with a few laps to go: “That is truly two guys going for the same position and the same patch. Tough break for Joey Logano.”

Dallenbach on Logano confronting Harvick after the race: “He needs to do this, he needs to vent. Joey has been taken out so many times from a race, whether it was a Nationwide race or whatever. He should be mad…He has got to man up on some of these guys or you are going to get pushed around in this business.”

Logano on the incident with Kevin Harvick: “He let me go in the middle of the straightaway and decided to dump me on the next lap. It’s probably not his fault, his wife wears the firesuit in the family, tells him what to do, so it’s probably not his fault…I don’t know what I ever did to piss him off but he’s obviously stupid.”

Unofficial Pocono 500 Results:

1. #11 Denny Hamlin
2. #18 Kyle Busch
3. #14 Tony Stewart
4. #29 Kevin Harvick
5. #48 Jimmie Johnson
6. #10 Kurt Busch
7. #31 Jeff Burton
8. #42 Juan Pablo Montoya
9. #33 Clint Bowyer
10. #43 AJ Allmendinger

- Turner Sports, Press Release

Toyota Motorsports Logo

“One of our primary objectives when we became a NASCAR participant — besides winning races and competing for championships — was to enhance the race fans’ experience, whether at the track or during a race broadcast,” said Ed Laukes, corporate manager of motorsports marketing for Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. “We believe that having a Camry serve as a ‘cutaway’ car for static demonstration purposes will be beneficial to viewers watching the TNT broadcasts.”

The two-part display, which features a complete 2010 Sprint Cup Series Camry with an engine, as well as a separate rotating NASCAR drive train assembly featuring the entire inner workings of the Camry — from the radiator to the rear axle, and including the valve gear and bottom end of the engine, the gearbox, driveshaft and rear axle, and the rear brakes. It will travel to each track during TNT’s ‘Summer Six-Pack’ broadcast schedule, comprising events at Pocono Raceway (June 6), the two-mile Michigan International Speedway (June 13), the Infineon Raceway road course (June 20), the one-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway (June 27), the two-mile superspeedway of Daytona International Speedway (July 3) and the 1.5- mile Chicagoland Speedway (July 10).

“This is a great opportunity for race fans to see the inner-workings of the Camry Cup car that has won 26 races since joining the series in 2007,” said Pete Spence, group vice president and technical director for TRD, U.S.A. (Toyota Racing Development). “TNT’s NASCAR coverage includes a wide variety of race tracks, and the ‘cutaway’ can be used to describe how driver, car and engine are impacted by the changing conditions at each track, as well as various adjustments that need to be made at different circuits.”

TRD, U.S.A. provided all the engine parts and pieces for the displays. The main component, built by Hammond & Associates, includes a complete Camry body and engine. The second rotating component, constructed by Cutaway Creations, will be used to show a more in-depth look at what is underneath the car’s sheet metal.

Championship-winning crew chief and veteran TV analyst Larry McReynolds will be using the Camry for in-depth analysis during TNT’s race coverage.

About Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers. Toyota directly employs more than 34,000 people in the U.S. and sold more than 1.77 million vehicles in 2009.

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release

TNT and NASCAR.COM Give Fans a “Million Dollar
Challenge” Beginning with Network’s First Race on June 6

NASCAR on TNT

The network’s full-length NASCAR video featuring “T.N.T.” will make its television debut on Tuesday, May 25 during TNT’s exclusive coverage of Game #4 of the Western Conference Finals on the Emmy-award winning Inside the NBA post-game show. Additionally, the video will be available for view on Turner-operated NASCAR.COM at:  http://www.nascar.com/tnt/

“It was a natural fit to incorporate AC/DC’s legendary “T.N.T.” to our on-air product and marketing campaign, given how much the music reflects the same excitement and intensity as the sport of NASCAR and the NASCAR on TNT telecasts,” said Christina Miller, senior vice president of Turner Sports strategy/marketing/promotions.

Turner Sports will also unveil for its 2010 NASCAR on TNT Summer Series the “TNT Million Dollar Fan Challenge,” a weekly event on NASCAR.COM that allows fans the opportunity to win up to $1 million each week of TNT’s coverage.  Fans will have the chance to select the drivers they think will be the top 10 finishers in each race. Should a fan correctly select the top ten finishing drivers all in their proper finishing order, the fan could win up to $1 million (if more than one fan selects the correct finishing lineup, they will equally share the million dollar prize).  The game will open for upcoming races on the Wednesday after each previous raceday and will not close until 25% of the present week’s race is complete, allowing participants to change their line-ups for a portion of the race.  Fans have six chances to win as they can pick the top 10 finishers for all six of TNT’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

The additional multiplatform assets of TNT’s NASCAR marketing campaign will include prominent online promotion on NASCAR.COM and Yahoo! NASCAR as well as video ads on the social media site Facebook, print advertisements in USA Today and NASCAR Illustrated, sports talk radio DJ endorsements, spot radio advertisements in select markets, a national satellite buy among various networks and spot television ads during regional sporting events and across the Turner-owned networks including TNT, TBS, CNN and truTV.

Beginning on June 6^th with the Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 presented by Target in Pocono, Pa., TNT revs up for six consecutive races of exclusive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series coverage including NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Michigan (June 13), the Toyota/Save Mart 350 in Sonoma, Calif. (June 20), NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from New Hampshire (June 27), and primetime Saturday night races with the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona powered by Coca-Cola (July 3) and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago (July 10).

Previous musical pairings with Turner Sports for its sports programming include The Rolling Stones (NASCAR), Buckcherry (NASCAR), Hinder (NASCAR), Bon Jovi (MLB), Jamie Foxx and Justin Timberlake (NBA Playoffs), Usher (NBA All-Star), Jay-Z (NBA), Kevin Rudolf (NBA Playoffs), Pharrell (NBA All-Star), Britney Spears (NBA All-Star), Fort Minor (NBA Playoffs), and many others.

Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., presents some of the best and most popular sporting events worldwide and is a leader in televised and online sports programming.  With events airing on TBS ,TNT and truTV, Turner Sports’ line-up includes NASCAR and NASCAR.COM, the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, professional golf, PGATOUR.COM and PGA.com.  Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA LEAGUE PASS Broadband, NBA Mobile, NBADLEAGUE.com and WNBA.com.

TNT, one of cable’s top-rated networks, is television’s destination for drama.  Available in 99.6 million households, the network is home to such original series as the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Men of a Certain Age, with Ray Romano, Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula; HawthoRNe, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and Dark Blue, starring Dylan McDermott; the upcoming Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; Memphis Beat, with Jason Lee; Southland, from Emmy®-winning producer John Wells (ER); and Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter.  TNT also presents such powerful dramas as Bones, CSI: NY and Numb3rs; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards®; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA.  The NCAA men’s basketball tournament will appear on TNT beginning in 2011.  TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

- Turner Sports, Press Release

NASCAR on TNT

In a new role, TNT announcer Lindsay Czarniak will become the new host for Countdown to Green, 60 minutes of pre-race coverage that leads into TNT’s green flag racing coverage. In addition, she will host TNT and NASCAR.COM’s post-race coverage, as well as give mid-race updates and reports. Czarniak will be joined by analysts Larry McReynolds and Petty.

“Adam’s knowledge of the sport and his smooth delivery make him an excellent addition, and we’re confident that he will bring out the best in Wally and Kyle in the broadcast booth,” said Jeff Behnke, senior vice president and executive producer for Turner Sports.  “Adam has a terrific reputation within NASCAR, and we have appreciated his work for a long time.”

Behnke said TNT is also pleased to welcome Czarniak to pre-race coverage.  “Lindsay’s experience as veteran studio host, along with the enthusiasm, energy and knowledge she has cultivated as a pit reporter for the past three years on TNT, make her ideal to serve as TNT’s studio host,” Behnke said.

Beyond Alexander’s TNT duties during six weeks of Summer Series coverage, Alexander also works for SPEED as a reporter for the network’s racing coverage.  He has also worked as a play-by-play announcer on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and as a pit reporter for its NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series coverage.  Alexander began his career as an announcer for the Tri-State Speedway in Evansville, Ind.

In addition to Czarniak’s tenure as a TNT announcer, she also serves as the full-time sports anchor at NBC’s WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.  Prior to that, Czarniak was co-host with George Michael on the syndicated Sports Machine with George Michael.  In 2008, Czarniak was a studio host for NBC’s Olympic Summer Games in Beijing, China, and in 2006, she was a sports desk reporter for the network’s Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy.  She appeared on various NBC-owned networks.  

TNT’s NASCAR telecasts will return with popular production features and enhancements, including TNT RaceBuddy, the award-winning multi-platform experience that provides companion coverage on NASCAR.COM with integrated content, unique camera angles and social media capabilities. In addition, the acclaimed Pride of NASCAR series will continue as TNT profiles six new NASCAR legends, highlighting the sport’s history and history makers.  Finally, TNT’s innovative Wide Open Coverage will air for the fourth year during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing from Daytona.

Also returning to TNT this summer will be pit reporters Ralph Sheheen, Marty Snider and Matt Yocum. This marks TNT’s 27^th consecutive year of televising Cup coverage, making it NASCAR’s longest running broadcast partner.

2010 NASCAR on TNT Summer Series:

ALL TIMES EASTERN (ET)

SUNDAY, JUNE 6

12:00– 1:00 p.m.           Countdown to Green

1:00 – 5:30 p.m.             NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Pocono (Pocono Raceway)

SUNDAY, JUNE 13

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.           Countdown to Green

1:00 – 4:30 p.m.             NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Michigan (Michigan International Speedway)

SUNDAY, JUNE 20

2:00 – 3:00 p.m.             Countdown to Green

3:00 – 6:30 p.m.             NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Sonoma (Infineon Raceway)

SUNDAY, JUNE 27

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.           Countdown to Green

1:00 – 4:30 p.m.             NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Loudon (New Hampshire International Speedway)

SATURDAY, JULY 3

6:30 – 7:30 p.m.             Countdown to Green

7:30 – 11:00 p.m.           NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Daytona (Daytona International Speedway)

SATURDAY, JULY 10

6:30 – 7:30 p.m.             Countdown to Green

7:30 – 11:00 p.m.           NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago (Chicago Speedway)

Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., presents some of the best and most popular sporting events worldwide and is a leader in televised and online sports programming.  With events airing on TBS and TNT, Turner Sports’ line-up includes NASCAR and NASCAR.COM, the NBA, Major League Baseball, professional golf, PGATOUR.COM and PGA.com.  Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA League Pass, NBADLeague.com and WNBA.com.

TNT, one of cable’s top-rated networks, is television’s destination for drama and home to such original series as the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Men of a Certain Age, with Ray Romano; Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter; HawthoRNe, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and Dark Blue, starring Dylan McDermott; as well as the newly acquired Southland, from ER creator John Wells.  TNT also presents such powerful dramas as Bones, CSI: NY and Numb3rs; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards^®; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA.  TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Turner Sports, Press Release